Ivan Chernoknyzhny | |
|---|---|
| Иван Чернокнижный Іван Чорнокнижний | |
| Chairman of theMilitary Revolutionary Council | |
| In office 12 February – 15 June 1919 | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Nestor Makhno |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1890s |
| Died | c. 1928 |
| Nationality | Ukrainian |
| Political party | Left Socialist-Revolutionaries |
| Other political affiliations | Makhnovshchina |
| Occupation | Teacher |
Ivan Sebastyanovich Chernoknizhny (Russian:Иван Себастьянович Чернокнижный;Ukrainian:Іван Себастьянович Чорнокнижний,romanized: Ivan Sebastianovych Chornoknyzhnyi) was aleft socialist-revolutionary and a leading member of theMakhnovist movement.
Ivan Chernoknizhny was born at the end of the nineteenth century in thePavlohrad Raion of theKaterynoslav Governorate. After receiving his education, he worked as a rural teacher in the village ofNovopavlivka [uk], where he became a member of theParty of Left Socialist-Revolutionaries. In the autumn of 1918, he joined theMakhnovist movement and was elected as a delegate for Novopavlivka to the first, second and thirdRegional Congresses of Peasants, Workers and Insurgents.[1] At the second congress, he was elected as the first chairman of theMilitary Revolutionary Council (VRS),[2] after he gave a speech in which he denounced the newly establishedUkrainian Soviet Socialist Republic:[3]
"TheUkrainian provisional government stood by, first inMoscow and then inKursk, until the workers and peasants of the Ukraine had liberated the territory of enemies. Now that the enemy is beaten [...] some government appears in our midst describing itself as Bolshevik and aiming to impose its party dictatorship upon us. Is that to be countenanced? We are non-party insurgents, and we have revolted against all our oppressors; we will not countenance a new enslavement, no matter the quarter whence it may come!"
As chairman of the VRS, he oversaw the establishment of the firstfree soviets inHuliaipole Raion.[4] During his speech at an opening ceremony inHuliaipole, he described the goal of the free soviets to be the establishment ofself-governance in Ukraine, outside of the control of anypolitical party. He also noted that Ukrainian peasants had instinctivelyself-organized many free soviets themselves, indicating widespread popular support for the project.[5] He ended his speech by warning against risingauthoritarianism, brought on by both theBolsheviks and theWhite movement, calling instead for free soviets to become the nucleus for "real freedom, genuine equality and honest fraternity."[6]
In June 1919, he wasoutlawed by theSoviet authorities and went underground. He continued to take an active part in the Makhnovist movement, constantly working in the VRS and remaining one of the ideologists of the insurgency. He was again declared an outlaw in January and November 1920. In the 1920s, after theamnesty, he lived in theMezhova Raion of theDnipropetrovsk Oblast, where he led the underground Anarcho-Makhnovist group. For his illicit activities, he was arrested in 1928.[1]